Detective in Danger
by hardydrew222
Summary: Its been almost a year since Nancy last met the Hardys on a case, after which she started developing feelings for Frank. Now after a year, Nancy starts getting stalked and the Hardys come to River Heights to help her. Will they be able to find out who the stalker is? Will Frank have the same feelings for Nancy? -Completed!
1. Chapter 1

Detective in Danger

Carson Drew, his daughter, Nancy, her friends, Bess and George, and their housekeeper, Hannah, had gone out to watch a movie. After returning home, Carson checked the answering machine and listened to the message, which everyone in the room was able to hear.

"_Nancy..._" said a raspy, robotic voice on the phone. The voice sent a chill down Nancy's spine and she visibly paled."_Oh Nancy...I want you. I need you. And I'm sure you feel the same. But don't you worry, my love, very soon, we will be there for each other._"

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_**Three weeks ago...**_

It was an unusually hot and humid day in River Heights, which led to Nancy, Bess and George seek refuge from the heat at the mall and do some shopping. After 3 hours of shopping, the three friends made their way out of the mall towards Nancy's car, all of them carrying shopping bags. George hopped in the front seat while Bess hopped in the back with all the shopping bags. Nancy was putting her bags at the back when George spotted something on the driver seat.

"Hey Nan, take a look at this. It has your name on it." Nancy looked up, her brow furrowed at the sight of it. She took it from George and opened it up.

"**It is a really hot day, and that is how hot I feel whenever I look at you**"

"What is it?" asked Bess. Nancy gave the note to George and straightened up to look around. She didn't find anyone that looked suspicious and just sat in the driver's seat and started up the car. George snorted with laughter on her side.

"Looks like Nancy has a secret admirer!" she said. She passed the note back to Bess, who let out a giggle after reading the note.

"That is so cute!"

Nancy felt her cheeks turning a little red and said, "Well it's just a silly little note. I don't see how you find it cute Bess, it's kind of creepy. And it doesn't help that there is no name on it. I wonder who it is from."

"Uh Nancy, if there was a name on it, it wouldn't have been a note from a secret admirer!" Bess said.

"Whatever Bess" Nancy muttered.

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Since that day, Nancy started receiving notes from an unknown person and each time, it kept getting creepier and more serious. And only last week, she had started receiving calls from a man with a raspy, robotic voice, proving that the person was using a voicebox. Nancy wished she could figure out who it was, but she couldn't think straight since she had never been in such a position before. Nancy started staying home much more and Bess and George, worried for their friend, didn't leave her side. Today, Hannah had insisted that they all go and watch a movie. Nancy was reluctant at first, but she figured she could have some fun with those closest to her for one night.

After the message ended, all eyes turned on Nancy. Carson clenched his jaw. He had had enough. "That's it! I'm not flying down to San Diego. I can't leave Nancy alone for a month with this freak after her!" he said.

"Dad!" Nancy exclaimed, "You can't just not go to San Diego! You have to go! It is a big case and you have to be there! I can take care of myself. Hannah will be there for me and anyways, Bess and George are going to be staying here with me the whole time you are gone. "

"But Nancy, you are more important to me than this case. Who knows what this maniac would do once I leave? I can't risk that."

"Actually Mr. Drew," George said, "Bess and I were thinking about this the other day. We know this is really crazy and all and how hard it must be for you. So we thought..."

"That we should call some more people over other than just me and George!" Bess said.

"Right. To be more specific, we were thinking that we need some boys to look after us. Boys who know what they are doing. Who can make sure we are alright. Who are actually teen detectives, just like Nancy."

Nancy's eyes widened as she realized who George was talking about.

"Who are you talking about, George?" Carson asked.

"The Hardy brothers!" Bess and George said together.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Two chapters in one day! I intend to publish a third and possibly even a fourth one if I can! And this chapter is very short, so I'll try my best to publish faster. Oh and don't forget, review please.**_

_**Disclaimer: Most definitely, 100%, without a doubt NOT MINE! **_

"Guys, no!" Nancy said, "We can't just call them over-"

Carson raised his hand for silence, cutting Nancy off in mid sentence. "Hardy? Do they have anything to do with Fenton Hardy?"

Bess nodded vigorously and George said, "Yes! They are his sons, Frank and Joe Hardy!"

"Hmm. Do you girls think that those two will come over?"

"For sure!" Bess said.

"Dad, we can't just go and call the Hardy's over!" Nancy said, "That is insane!"

"Nancy, if you want me to go to San Diego, you will have to agree to let the Hardy's come over here till I am back or unless this person is captured. Do you understand?" he said, his voice stern.

Nancy knew she had the lost argument. There was no point in arguing now. She nodded that she understood, in defeat.

Turning to Bess and George, Carson said "Give them a call. I would like them to be here before I leave on Sunday."

Nancy was staring at the floor. But once the she calmed down, she was excited at the thought of seeing the Hardy's again. The last time they had met was almost a year ago, when they worked together to solve a case. She came very close to death that time. She would have been dead if it wasn't for Frank. Ever since then, she started developing feelings for the older Hardy. Her heart fluttered just at the thought of him.

"Nancy? Are you alright?" Carson asked with concern, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine Dad" she replied with a small smile.

"Could you give the Hardy's phone number to Bess or George?"

"They already have it" she replied, confused.

"Oh, I lost all my contacts after I got my new phone" George explained.

"And I forgot mine at home" Bess said.

"Oh alright, here" she gave her phone to George, who started dialing in Frank Hardy's number on her phone.

"He's not answering," she said, after her call went to Frank's voicemail. "I'll try calling Joe."

Joe didn't answer either. "He's not answering either" George said, scratching her head.

Carson sighed. "Alright, try calling them back later. Right now, I think we all need some sleep."

_**A/N: That brings us to an end of chapter 2. Oh and I must warn you, next chapter is long and well kind of pointless but I still feel like it should be there! Looking forward to your reviews :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hello readers! As I had mentioned earlier in my last chapter, this chapter is kinda pointless if you think about it, but I felt like writing this anyways. And considering its 'pointless', its pretty long too. Bare with me :)**_

_**Disclaimer: If I wanted a wish to be granted, it would be that these characters are all mine. But they are not. **_

"I don't know how I can thank you boys for helping me and put a stop to these thefts."

Frank and Joe were sitting in the office of the owner of one of the world's most high profile motorbikes company, Ducati. They were called in to investigate a string of bike robberies from shipment as well as from the exhibition. They had just wrapped up the case half an hour ago when they were called down to the main headquarters of the company to meet the owner.

"Don't worry about it sir," Frank said, who was sporting a huge gash above his left eye from the chase. "We were just doing our job."

"But there must be something I can do for you. I would have been ruined if it hadn't been for you two, since the robberies cost us a huge amount of money."

"It was our pleasure sir, but we really don't-"

"Actually sir," Joe jumped in, "There is something that I would like."

"Name it" the owner said, leaning forward on his desk.

Frank shot Joe a warning look but Joe rambled on "Would it be too much if we can have a ride on one of your bikes?" Joe asked eagerly. Frank rolled his eyes and the owner chuckled.

"Young man, you just gave me an idea! I'm not just going to let you take a ride on one of my babies, but instead, I will let you keep it!"

Frank and Joe looked at each other and Joe's eyes were as wide as saucers. "No sir, we really can't..." Joe mumbled.

"You really don't have to sir...that is just too much" Frank said as well.

"Nonsense," the owner said pulling open a drawer, "That is the most that I can do to show you how grateful I am to you two." He took out two keys from the drawer and tossed one to Frank and the other to Joe.

"That one is the key for the 848," pointing to the key in Frank's hand "And that one is the key for the Monster" nodding at the key in Joe's hand. Frank and Joe both tried to protest but he refused.

"No, I'm not having any of it. You're taking the bikes and that's final."

"Thanks, sir..." Joe mumbled.

"Yeah, this is more than we ever thought and imagined. Thank you" Frank said earnestly.

"Don't thank me boys, I should be thanking you for saving my company. Oh, and before I forget," he reached into his drawer once more and pulled out two cards and handed them to Frank and Joe "These cards will reduce 50% off of whatever you buy for the bike, like gas and engine and stuff" he said with a grin. Frank and Joe took them silently, speechless. "Now take those keys and go to the exhibition at the back and give them to the person on the desk. They will get you your bikes. Thanks for the help boys."

Frank and Joe stood up and shook the owner's hand and thanked him one last time and left the room.

Once they were sure they were far from the office, Joe leaped into the air and yelled happily. Even Frank was excited.

"I don't believe this" Frank said, grinning "This has to be the best end to a case!" He high fived Joe, the huge cut on his head all forgotten.

"But how come you got the 848 and I got the Monster?" Joe said enviously

"Maybe because I, unlike you, didn't get kidnapped and saved you and finished off the criminals single handed" he smirked and grinned.

Frank noticed the disgruntled look on Joe's face and said, "I'm glad that you're ok, bro. You have no idea how freaked out I was when you went missing. And hey,not many people can say that they own a Ducati! In fact, I think we might probably be the only ones to own one in Bayport!"

At this Joe cheered up mightily. "That's true!" he said with a goofy grin. "And I'm glad that you got there in time. You know, I've always wondered. Are you my brother or some kind of superhero?"

"Whichever you prefer little brother, whichever you prefer" Frank replied and laughed, swinging an arm across Joe's shoulders as they headed towards the exhibition.

_**A/N: What do you think? I know there hasn't been much action yet, but hopefully we will get to it soon. And I would appreciate it if you guys can suggest some ideas in your reviews. God knows I need some more events to occur in the story to make it interesting. Until later! :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: This chapter will be much more relative to the story, unlike the previous chapter. I just couldn't resist bringing in the bikes in that last chapter, since it is my passion. I know the story has been kinda out of it so far, so I'm just gonna use my lack of writing experience and first fanfic as an excuse :P**_

_**Disclaimer: You should know this by now, I aint no owner of these characters.**_

Nancy, George and Bess were getting ready to turn in for the night. George had left to use the bathroom when her phone rang. Bess looked at the caller ID and squealed with delight, causing Nancy to jump at the sudden outburst, before answering the phone.

"Frank Hardy! Its been so long!"

"Bess Marvin? Is that you? I thought I had your number" Frank replied.

"Oh, you do. This is George's number you're calling at. She got a new phone." She explained.

"Oh I see. What have you been up to? Everything alright? You guys usually never call unless it has something to do with a case."

"Hey, be nice now! Its not like you two ever call" she retorted, making Frank chuckle. "Anyways, I don't know how to break this to you, but you and Joe have to be here in River Heights by Sunday."

"Is that a request or a demand?"

"Good question. It's both. Mr. Drew _requests_ you to come down to River Heights and me, Nancy and George _demand_ you to come down here."

"No I'm not!" Nancy exclaimed, throwing a pillow at Bess.

"Looks like Nancy doesn't agree with you." Frank chuckled. "But why does Mr. Drew want us to go come to River Heights?" he asked, puzzled.

"Well...Nancy has got a stalker"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, it has been going on for about three weeks now. And Mr. Drew is leaving for about a month, so he wants the two of you to come help us. George and I have already been staying over at Nancy's for a while now anyways."

"Okay...when is Mr. Drew leaving?"

"Sunday evening. Which is why he wants you two over by Sunday. "

"Alright, we'll be there."

"Thanks Frank, we knew we could count on you!"

"That's what friends are for, right? Say hi to Nancy and George from me. And be careful"

"Oh we are always careful. You know that. Oh and Frank?"

"Yeah?"

"Nancy misses you!"

"Bess!" Nancy yelled, jumping out of her bed and bolting at Bess. "You'll pay for that!"

"Goodnight Bess, see you guys soon" Frank said, his cheeks turning red.

After Bess hung up, Nancy started throwing pillows at Bess, who couldn't stop laughing. At that moment, George came back to the room and quirked an eyebrow.

"What did I miss?"

This made Bess laugh harder and once she calmed down, she told George about Frank's call.

"That's great!" George said, enthusiastically. "But why were you laughing and why did Nancy looked like she was ready to kill you?"

"I told Frank that Nancy misses him" she said, her laughter coming back. "And then he just mumbled goodnight and hung up. It wouldn't take a genius to figure that he was probably blushing!"

At that point, even George joined Bess at laughing and Nancy just sat on her bed and scowled at them.

"You guys suck. You can't be my friends."

"Oh Nan, but its true! You _do_ miss Frank!" Bess said, a huge smile on her face.

"Well, yeah, but I miss Joe too!"

"Not as much as you miss Fra-aank" George said in a singsong voice.

The cousins doubled up with laughter and again and even Nancy smiled at her friends mirth. But little did she know that right at that moment, someone was looking at her through her window with a pair of binoculars.

_**A/N: And that's that for Chapter 4! How do you like it so far? Review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Here's chapter 5! A quick S/O to Teddy100 for the nice review. I'm glad he loves it and hopefully, all my other readers do too!**_

_**Disclaimer: I really hate repeating that these characters are not mine cuz it saddens me up. But I have to. Now on with the story!**_

After hanging up the phone with Bess, Frank went to Joe's room and told him about his talk with Bess.

"So we are needed in River heights by Sunday?" Joe asked.

"Yup. And by the sounds of it, Mr. Drew is getting really worked up about it since he can't be there to watch over her. Which is where we come in." Frank replied.

"Who do you think would stalk Nancy? Do you think its some way of getting revenge?"

"I don't know, Bess never really said what it said on the notes and the messages on the phone. Guess we'll have to wait till we get there to find out more"

"Alright. Do you want to book the tickets or should I?"

"Actually, I was thinking about a road trip. From here to River Heights on our new bikes."

Joe grinned. "Sounds good to me, bro. I never knew you were up for long road trips. Or is just to impress Nancy with the new bike?"

Frank blushed and lightly smacked Joe's arm. "Nothing of that sort"

"Uh huh, sure" Joe said, sarcastically.

Frank chose to ignore Joe's remark. "Come on, pack up your bags. We'll have to leave tomorrow or else we'll have to leave really early on Sunday. Which I doubt you wouldn't want."

"You got that right. I don't want to drive for, what, like 13 hours straight. What are we going to say to Mom and Dad?"

"The truth. I'm sure they will understand."

"Yeah, I guess so. Well, I guess I better start packing up now."

"Yeah, I'll go pack up my stuff too" Frank said, getting up to leave. "Don't forget to pack your toothbrush, you seem to forget that a lot."

"Oh, right, thanks for the reminder."

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Nancy bolted upright in her bed when she heard Bess scream. When she glanced at the clock, she was surprised to find that it was only 1:30AM. She looked over at Bess, who was standing by the open window, George already at her side. Nancy rushed to the window and looked outside. She could see someone running across the street in the shadows.

"Bess, what happened?" Nancy inquired.

"That guy...I woke up to use the bathroom and when I came back, I saw that man who was just running across the street at the window." She shuddered at the thought of it. "He was opening the window and trying to get in when he saw me and I screamed. He dropped that." She pointed to a note on the floor by the window, which Nancy had not noticed.

She picked it up and after reading it, she gasped. A feeling of sudden chill came over her and she was scared. In typed letters, the note said:

"_I see that your father is packing up in his room and you're not. Which could only mean that he is going away for a while. You know what that means Nancy? It means that we are going to have some fun." _

_**A/N: A minor cliffhanger over here. I'm not very good at cliffhangers, so I'm kinda proud of the cliffhanger I managed to produce over here. I realize that this is a short chapter, so I will try to update and post Chapter 6 soon! I hope you're enjoying this story! And don't forget, lemme know what you think! :D **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Hello there, my readers! We learn about Frank's relationship status in this chapter. I hope to pick up the pace of the story with more action. I would be happy if you guys can make any suggestions, I would love to know and might even use it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I really hate this. But it has to be done. I don't own these characters whatsoever.**_

Nancy couldn't sleep later in the night. The thought that the stalker almost came inside her room made her feel uneasy. After what seemed like hours of rolling around, Nancy fell asleep.

When Nancy woke up in the morning, she woke up to another shout. This time though, it was her father calling for her from downstairs. She looked at the clock with one eye closed and jolted awake when she realized that it was almost noon. She went downstairs to see what the commotion was about, as she could hear Hannah and Carson going at it. It seemed like Carson threatened to not go to San Diego again and Hannah was trying to make him see sense. When Nancy got downstairs, her father looked at her and gave her a note.

"I found this on my car just now" Carson said.

Nancy read the note and groaned.

"_Don't worry about your daughter Mr. Drew; I will take care of her while you're gone"_

Bess and George came down the stairs and noticed the grim atmosphere in the room. George saw the note in Nancy's hand and went over and read it over her Nancy's shoulder. She swore under her breath.

"I swear to god, if we find this freak...he will regret the day he decided to do this to Nan!"

"Did you hear from the Hardy's yet, George?" Carson asked.

"Oh, yeah. Frank Hardy had called back. He said they will be here before you leave" Bess answered. "I think we should let them know about these two notes."

"Two? I found only one on my car."

"Um Dad, I got another note late last night. Bess saw him trying to come in through the window and she screamed. He panicked and dropped the note and left."

"What?! He came into your room?!"

"He tried to, Dad. He didn't succeed. Thanks to Bess."

"But that doesn't change the fact that he almost made it into your room, had it not been for Bess!" Turning to look at Bess and George, he added "Give them a call again girls. We need to let them know that its getting out of hand"

George nodded. "On it, Mr. Drew" She took out her phone and dialed in Frank's number.

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"Frank, I just thought of something" It was early in the morning and Joe was sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and thinking, when Frank walked in.

"And what is that?" Frank questioned, looking at Joe with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, as it was rare for Joe to look so thoughtful.

"How are you going to explain to Callie that you are going off to River Heights, to stay at the girl's house who she despises, for if not a month, then at least a couple of weeks?"

Frank stiffened a bit at the mention of Callie's name. "I don't have to explain to Callie anything" he replied, a bit of an edge to his voice.

Joe noticed his tone and raised his eyebrows. "Why not? I mean, she's your girlfriend, you would have to-"

"She's not," Frank cut in sharply, "Not anymore"

Joe choked on his toast at this new information and spluttered "Wh- what? How? Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We had a fight last week. I had told her about the bike thefts case and that I have to go and she said that she doesn't understand what's more important to me. Her or solving cases. She forced me to choose from something I love to do and somebody I love. I didn't say anything, but she knew what I was going to choose. She broke down and I hugged her. We were like that for a while. When she calmed down, she kissed me on the cheek and said goodbye. Haven't seen her since, but I called her after we completed the case. She seemed to be doing okay so..."he trailed off.

At this point, Joe's jaw was hanging open. "Boy, am I glad that I have Vanessa, who loves mysteries just as much as I do and understands the risks that go with the job. I can think of another girl who enjoys a nice mystery and solving it too"

"Joe," Frank said, looking his brother in the eye, "I'm going to River Heights to help Nancy, not to get involved with her. Besides, she already has Ned. You know how serious their relationship is."

"But that doesn't change the fact that you like her"

"Joe, I'm warning you right now. Stop it."

"Okay okay" Joe muttered.

The brothers finished their breakfast silently without saying another word to each other. _He knows that he likes her. Hell, everyone, even Bess and George know that he likes her. It's just Ned coming in the way. If only there was a way to get rid of him..._Joe's thoughts were interrupted by Frank's phone ringing. He watched his brother answer the phone and his expression becoming more serious than it was before, if that was possible.

"What happened?" Joe asked, after Frank hung up the phone.

"We have to leave now"

"Why?"

"Nancy's stalker strikes again."

_**A/N: That's the end of Chapter 6! Hope you liked it. I'm thinking of more creepy stuff that a stalker would do. Any suggestions? I would love to know :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: This is like my 7**__**th**__** chapter on the second day. Pretty good, don't you think? Well here's to all my readers!**_

_**Disclaimer: Ok, this is my last disclaimer note. At least for a few more chapters. These characters are not mine guys. Obviously..**_

Saturday morning was a quite affair at Drew residence. There were no notes, no creepy phone calls and Nancy was thankful for that. She was thinking about when Frank and Joe will arrive, when George voiced her thoughts.

"When are Frank and Joe coming? All Frank said was they will be here by Sunday, but never said when."

"I was wondering the same thing" Nancy said "I thought they would have let us know when they would be coming so that we can go and pick them up from the airport."

"Maybe they don't want us to go and pick them up. You know, so that you don't get followed or anything." Bess supplied.

"That's nonsense. We'll go pick them up from the airport. Bess, can you call Frank and ask?"

"Sure thing, Nan. Looks like you can't wait to see a certain dark haired Hardy" she said with a huge smile and winked at George.

"Shut it, Bess. Just call him already"

This caused both Bess and George to double up with laughter. Nancy was confused at their reaction, wondering what she had said to spark this reaction. Once Bess had calmed down, she dialed Frank's number.

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Meanwhile at the Hardy house, Frank Hardy wake up at 6:30 in the morning to start the long road trip to River Heights. In order to not get stuck in the weekend traffic, the brothers had decided to leave by 8AM. After taking a quick shower, he went to make sure Joe was up. As he expected, Joe was in a deep slumber.

"Wake up Joe, we have to move."

"Uurrnghh, go away"

Frank opened the curtains in Joe's room, letting the room soak with sunlight and blinding Joe. Joe took his pillow and put it on stop of his head.

"If you don't wake up by the time I make my bed, I'm bringing in the cold water."

"Screw you, Frank"

Frank went to his room and made his bed, he was about to leave when he heard Joe go into the bathroom. He headed downstairs and prepared breakfast for the two.

"Morning ,Frank. Ready for the trip?" Laura Hardy walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mum. We're all set. Joe looks like he's seen better mornings though."

Laura chuckled. "Have a seat. I'll prepare breakfast. Pancakes or eggs and sausages?"

"Pancakes" Joe answered walking in, red-eyed. "Good morning Mum"

"Good morning dear. Pancakes it is then."

After breakfast, the boys went to their rooms and made sure they had everything before heading out.

"Now you boys be very careful. I don't want you two to get hurt. And give my regards to everyone over there."

"We will, Mum. Don't you worry." Frank said hugging his mom goodbye.

"Yeah, we are always careful." Joe said, getting his part of the farewell hug too. Turning to his brother, he said "So Frank...ready to hit the road?"

"You bet" Frank said with a grin.

Just when they got their helmets on, Frank phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID and answered. "Hey George"

"Hey Frank, its Bess."

"Oh sorry, Bess. What's up?"

"Oh nothing, just wanted to know when will you guys be here."

"Oh, we should be there by noon tomorrow" The boys had planned to stop over at one of their friends place in Toledo for the night.

"Great! See you tomorrow then!"

"Yup, see you"

"They can't wait for us to get there, can they?" Joe asked, his voice sounding muffled from his helmet.

"I guess so, since we haven't met in almost a year. Even I'm excited" Frank replied, putting his helmet on.

"Of course, you are. You get to see Nancy again after all." Joe said with a grin. _I bet he's blushing under that helmet right now._ he thought.

"Shut up, Joe. Let's hit the road."

_**A/N: End of another chapter. Wow, I think I'm doing alright for a first timer. What do you think? Reviews reviews reviews! :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Wow! I was surprisingly busy, so I didnt get the chance to update earlier. This one's a really long chapter, compared to the others. You'll see why. And a quick S/O to hlahabibty for the review! I was asked why I didnt get the police involved in the story so far and the answer is honestly, I didnt even really think about the police. But I might get them involved soon eventually. Now on with the story!**_

Sunday was a busy day at the Drew residence. Everyone was up early and quite busy. After breakfast, Carson went to make sure he had everything set for his trip later in the day. The girls were arguing about what they should do when the phone rang.

"Hello, Drew residence, Nancy speaking." Nancy said in to the phone.

"Nancy..." said the familiar bone chilling raspy voice. Nancy signalled the other two be quite and put the phone on speaker so they can hear. "Our time to meet is coming closer with the departure of your father tonight. I can't wait."

Before Nancy could reply, she jumped a bit when she heard her father yelling at the stalker from the phone in his room. "Listen to me here, you sick freak! Leave my daughter alone!"

"Carson, trust me when I say that yelling at me is not going to stop me from doing what I want. And in this case, seeing who I want."

Carson was swearing at the stalker when they heard a click on the other end and realized the caller had hung up. Carson had stormed out of his room. Nancy couldn't remember when the last time was when she saw her father this angry, if ever.

"When are the Hardy's coming?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"They said they were going to be here by noon, Dad" Nancy replied. She looked at her watch. It was 10:50AM. "It takes an hour to get to the airport, so we should probably head to the airport now to pick them up."

"Alright then," Carson said with a nod "make sure you call me when you get there and keep your eyes open, he could be following you."

Nancy tried really hard not to roll her eyes. "I'm only gone for a couple of hours, Dad. Would I really have to call?"

"Yes you do, it will help me feel better"

"Okay, I'll call you when I get there."

"That's my girl" Carson said with a smile and walked with the trio to the driveway and watched them leave.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, the Hardy's came to a stop in front of Nancy's house. They made their way to the porch and Frank rang the doorbell. A minute later, Hannah opened the door.

"Hi, how may I help you?" she asked with a smile.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Frank Hardy and this is my brother Joe" he introduced himself politely.

"Hardy?" Hannah asked. She looked behind the brothers, confused. "Where's Nancy?"

Frank and Joe looked at each other. By this time, Carson had come up to the door.

"I'm sorry, but I'm confused" Joe said "We just got here. How are we supposed to know where Nancy is?"

Frank was beginning to worry and was about to ask something when Carson said "She went to the airport with Bess and George to pick you guys up."

"Airport? I never told Bess we were flying here!" Frank said.

"Oh my," Hannah said, "there must have been a confusion"

"I guess the girls assumed you boys were going to fly in since you're coming from New York. Even I expected you guys to fly here. I'll go and call Nancy and tell her you're here. Come on in." Carson said.

"Actually Mr. Drew, there's no need to call her" Joe said with a grin, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes "Me and brother here, will go to the airport and surprise them."

Frank grinned at his brother's idea. "That's a good idea"

Carson smiled and said, "But the airport is an hour away. And you two must be tired on top of that."

"Oh no, we stopped over at a friend's in Toledo last night. We had a goodnight's sleep" Frank said with a smile.

"And we'll be there in 45 minutes max with our bikes!" Joe added.

Carson chuckled and said "Alright then, Hannah will have lunch ready for you all when you return."

"Sounds good" Joe said

"Thank you, Mr. Drew" Frank added.

The boys left their bags inside and headed for the airport.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"They should have been here by now. Where are they?" Bess complained

The three girls had been at the airport for close to an hour but there was no sign of the boys.

"The next flight from New York doesn't arrive until 4" George said "What the hell was Frank thinking when he said he'll be here by noon?"

"I don't know but I'm hungry" Nancy said.

"My, oh my, you girls keep getting prettier each time I see you!"said a familiar voice from behind the group.

The girls turned around to find Frank and Joe looking down at them, grinning. Nancy's heart did a somersault when she saw Frank. He had grown a bit taller over the last year, which was rare at his age and was definitely more muscular than before. His dark eyes held the same warmth as before and his smile was as genuine as ever. The only thing that made him imperfect was the cut above his eye. She kept it in mind to ask about it later.

"You guys look like you've seen a ghost" Frank snickered.

"What the...how?!" George exclaimed.

"Are you three just gonna stare at us like that or are you gonna give us a hug or something?" Joe asked

With that said, the girls came out of their state of shock and gave each of the brothers a hug, Frank and Nancy's lasting a bit longer than the others. Bess, George and Joe noticed that and grinned.

"Where's your stuff?" Nancy asked, noticing that neither of the Hardy's had anything with them.

"At your house" Joe replied

"How? You guys drove here?" Bess asked incredulously "All the way from Bayport?"

"Yeah," Joe replied nonchalantly, "Frank couldn't wait even another day to see Nancy again"

Bess and George laughed and Frank and Nancy felt themselves turning red. Frank shot a glare at Joe, who mistook his blush as anger and added "And you guys too, of course" quickly.

The group made their way out of the airport and headed towards the boys bikes. Bess let out a squeal and dashed towards Frank's bike.

"Oh my god! Is this actually yours? Which one of you owns it?" she asked with excitedly. "You have to give me a ride!"

"Yup, its mine." Frank said.

George let out a low whistle as she checked out both Frank and Joe's bikes.

"How did you manage to get these hot rides? They must have cost like half a million" she said.

"Actually, they cost nothing ." Frank said.

"What?!" Bess and George exclaimed.

Joe smirked and said "Perks of being a detective"

George scowled at him and stuck her tongue out.

"Tell us the story behind it" Nancy said

"Its a long story. We'll tell you later, I'm starving. Hannah promised us lunch as soon as we get back" Joe said

That made everyone realize how hungry they were and they all agreed to leave.

"Frank, can I ride with you?" Bess asked eagerly.

"Sure," Frank said flustered. "But I don't have another helmet."

"I do" Joe said. "I'll let you hop along with me, Bess"

"You give me a ride on your bike later, right now, give me the helmet" she said. Joe raised his eyebrows at her. "Please" she added, in a sweet voice, batting her eyelashes.

"I can't believe I'm falling for this" Joe muttered. Everyone laughed. "You owe me one , Marvin!" he said, handing her the other helmet.

Bess jumped with delight, her long blonde hair bouncing. "Thanks, Joe! You're the best!"

"I know I am"

Joe took off first, followed by Frank and Bess on the bike, and Nancy and George in the car.

The rest of the evening was spent joking around , talking about what they have been doing, when Frank turned to Nancy and asked her about the stalker.

"So where are the notes that you got?" he asked.

Frank's question caught her off guard. "Oh! I'll go get them" she said.

When she came back with the notes, the group quieted down and Frank and Joe read the notes. Each note sent a wave of anger through Frank's body. Joe felt the same, as he said, "If I ever find this creep..." trailing off, leaving the threat in the air.

"When has this been going on since?" Frank asked.

"About three weeks now" Nancy replied. "There were some calls i got from him too, and there's also a message on the answering machine. Do you want to hear it?"

Frank nodded, and she got up and went over to where the phone was. She played the message from two days ago again.

"_Nancy...Oh Nancy...I want you. I need you. And I'm sure you feel the same. But don't you worry, my love, very soon, we will be there for each other._"

By now, the anger was evident on the faces of the brothers, even Frank, who was usually always calm. Joe swore loudly.

Finally, Frank spoke. "Don't you worry Nan, as long as we're here, nothing will happen to you. I-we will make sure of that."

Those few words he said touched Nancy's heart and she hugged him tightly. "Thank you" she whispered.

A few moments later, Carson came out of the room, carrying his bags and came towards the group.

"Well, its time for me to go." he said. He turned to Frank and Joe shook their hands. "Thank you for coming all the way over here to look after my daughter."

"It's our pleasure, sir" Frank said.

"Yeah, Frank will make sure Nancy's safe" Joe said, grinning.

Bess and George let out a giggle at Joe's remark and Carson noticed Nancy blush and then looked at Frank, who was also blushing furiously but held his head up. Carson smiled. _Well, it certainly looks like they have a thing for each other. And he looks like a charming young man. Tall, handsome, polite and really smart from what I have heard_, he thought. "Remind me to call Fenton and tell him that he has a pair of charming young boys as sons." he said aloud, still smiling.

"You know Dad?" Joe asked.

"Of course. We had to work on the same case, many years ago before any of you were born ,and we became close friends. Then life caught up with us and we lost contact."

There came a honk from outside. "Well, looks like my ride is here" Carson said. He hugged his daughter and said, "Now you look after yourself. I'll try to call you everyday if I can and you let me know if anything happens."

"I wish you let me come with you to the airport" Nancy said, over her father's shoulder.

"There is no need of it. And you already went to the airport today" he said and everyone chuckled.

Soon after Carson was gone, Hannah served dinner and they all had a good time after. Soon, they all retired for the night. Frank and Joe were to stay in the guestroom, but one of them had to sleep on the couch in the living room since there wasn't enough space for both of them. They decided to alternate each day and Joe had already fallen asleep on the bed by the time Frank was all set for the night. He sighed and made his way to the couch. He couldn't stop thinking about Nancy. _Joe was right, she does keep getting prettier each time we meet_. _God, why can't I stop thinking of her? I don't know if I can handle myself for a month. She's already with Ned_, he thought, bitterly. After what seemed like hours of thinking, he fell asleep, thinking of the girl who has taken over his heart.

_**A/N: Whew! That was a long chapter, wasn't it? It certainly exhausted me to write all that. But I hope at least the readers are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it! :D **_

_**I will try to update the next chapter faster. Until then. **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I was able to write down this chapter today before I got busy. I couldn't let my readers wait so long to know what's going to happen next :). And a quick S/O to Ealasaid Una for the review!**_

_**Anyways, this chapter is not as long as the previous chapter. There is some fluff in this, as you will know when you read. A special thanks to all those who are following the story and find it interesting. Enjoy!**_

Nancy could not sleep. She had tried to shut her mind off, but she just couldn't keep her mind away from Frank. _I feel so much safer just when he's around_, she thought. She remembered their last case together, where he had saved her life. Nobody had known where she was. She had gotten caught and her captives tied her up and threw her into a lake. And when she was in the hospital recovering, Bess had told her that Frank didn't leave her side until he was dragged out.

She got out of bed and thought about going to the kitchen and get a drink. When she went downstairs, she saw Frank sleeping on the couch. _He looks so peaceful. Not to mention cute! _She made her way into the kitchen as quietly as she could and got herself a glass of water, trying not to make too much noise. She made her way back into the living room and headed for the stairs when Frank spoke up.

"Nancy?" he said groggily. "What are you doing?"

"What, can't I get myself a glass of water in my own house?" she teased, pretending to be annoyed.

Frank chuckled and sat up on the couch. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked, patting on the couch, motioning Nancy to sit beside him.

Nancy made her way to the couch and flopped down and sighed. "No. I haven't really been able to sleep in the night since that creep almost came into my room."

Frank nodded that he understood. "I can imagine. Must be really frustrating for you since you can't do much"

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that I have not much experience in catching stalkers. And now that I am the victim, I just don't know what to do. It's like I have hit a dead end."

_Wow, she looks beautiful even when she is troubled...get a hold over yourself Hardy, she's already troubled. Don't make it worse._

_Exactly! She's troubled! Comfort her! You have to do this!_

"Frank? Are you alright?" she noticed that Frank was staring off into space, as if he was thinking about something really hard.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was wondering what Ned thinks about all this."

Nancy tensed. "Oh, he doesn't know about this. Probably doesn't care either" she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Frank felt like kicking himself. He reached and took hold of her hand. "I'm so sorry, Nan. I didn't know."

"It's okay," she gave him a smile and squeezed his hand "It's no big deal, really. He moved to California. He got accepted for this program he was interested in. One of Dad's friend's daughter goes there too. I talk to her often. I told her about Ned going to the same university as her. One day, I was talking to her on the phone and she told me about this girl she hates and how that person and Ned are going out. I hadn't told her that Ned was my boyfriend here. I was pretty devastated" her voice cracked at the memory, as she kept going "Then he calls me one day, after about a week since I found out about his affair. I asked him about the girl and he pretended to know nothing about what I was talking about. But his voice told me that he knew what I was talking about. I broke up with him right then and haven't talked to him since." she looked up at Frank, whose mouth was hanging open.

"He cheated on you?!" he asked incredulously. "What kind of an idiot cheats on you?"

Despite going through that heart-aching memory, Nancy smiled at his reaction. He hugged her close and said "God, I'm so sorry Nancy. That cheating assh-"

"Frank!" Nancy laughed at his outburst. "It's okay. Now enough about my love life, are you still with Callie?"

She felt Frank stiffen a little bit. "No. No, we broke up a bit more than a week ago." He replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she said, but her insides were jumping around happily.

"Oh, don't be. It wasn't that bad. She just forced me to choose between her and my love for mysteries. I wasn't going to change myself, my passion, for someone. I wouldn't change it for anybody." Nancy's respect and admiration for Frank rose to another level at his words. "Joe is lucky," he sighed, and ran a hand through his dark hair "He found someone that loves him for who he is and what he loves to do."

"I'm sure there is someone who loves you for who you are" Nancy said softly.

Frank looked down at her, his dark brown eyes meeting her blue ones. "You think so?" he asked, leaning closer to her.

"I know so" she whispered, both of them inching closer.

Their lips were a breath away, when the hallway light upstairs lit up and the two could hear Joe yawn and go into the washroom. Frank and Nancy jumped apart at the sudden sound.

"Right on freaking cue. Interrupts something always, always" Frank muttered.

Nancy laughed and got off the couch, blushing after what just almost happened. "Goodnight, Frank" she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and bolted upstairs. She got into bed and smiled to herself and finally fell asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside on the street, a certain stranger watched as Nancy tried to put herself to sleep. He watched her make her leave her room and watched her go into the kitchen. He watched as the dark haired boy got up and Nancy made her way to him. He growled when he saw Frank hug Nancy and was positively seething in rage when they were about to kiss. _Something has to be done. I need to get rid of the boys. I should try to scare them away. No one gets close to my Nancy, she's mine._


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Finally got this chapter up! I had a hard time thinking what the right way was for both Nancy and Frank's confession for their love and the madman's warning. Hope you enjoy what I came up with!**_

Frank and Nancy couldn't help chancing a glance at each other the next day. Everyone else was completely oblivious to the two of them behaving strangely.

"So is there any sightseeing to do in River Heights?" Joe asked "Only, I would rather do something than just stay in here for so long. I don't know how you have been able to do this, Nan"

"It was really hard. I was itching to go out. But Dad wouldn't let me go out much and definitely not when it was getting dark." Nancy replied. "You know, I'm actually glad that you asked that, Joe. You two rarely ever come here, so let's go out today. What do you guys say? She asked looking around at everyone.

"I'm in" George agreed.

"Me too" Frank said.

"Me three!" Bess piped up.

"So it is a plan. What should we do today?"

"Let's go to the mall! There is a new designer shop that opened last week. We can have a look around." Bess suggested.

The Hardys looked at each other. Joe groaned and Frank rolled his eyes. If there is one thing that they hated, it was shopping.

"How about we pack some lunch and have a picnic?" George said. "We could go to that park by the lake. Swim over there, go to the park and have lunch and just hang around."

"Now that's more like it!" Joe said enthusiastically.

Everyone nodded their agreement, and even though Bess agreed, she was a little let down. Nancy noticed her friend's disappointment.

"Don't worry Bess, we'll go there tomorrow" she said with a smile.

Bess looked up and smiled brightly, before giving Nancy a big hug.

"Since we are not going to the mall today, can we do something tonight that I've been dying to do for a while?" she asked.

"What is it?"Nancy asked tentatively.

"I want to go to that dance club" Bess put on her best puppy eye face. "Please, please, please?"

"Uhh..."Nancy looked around at the others. Joe seemed to think about it and George was snorting and murmered something that sounded like "Fat chance". Frank just stood there watching the exchange between the two girls with amusement.

"I think we should go" Joe said suddenly.

George stopped laughing and sat up. "What? No! No freaking way!"

"Why not?" Bess asked her cousin.

"Because then you will do all that crazy stuff you do with the hair and makeup, that's why!"

Joe laughed. "Come on, George, don't be a spoilsport."

"I think we should have a vote. Those in favour of going and those who say no. But I'm out of this. I'll be the judge." Frank stated.

George looked at Nancy and hurried over to her. "Nan, you have to be on my side. Don't say you want to go too"

Nancy looked over at Bess and Joe, who were both grinning and Bess nodded at Nancy to say yes. She clasped her hands and started wringing them as if she was pleading. Nancy then looked at Frank and asked him "What do you think?" without saying anything with her eyes. He seemed to understand her and he shrugged.

"Sorry, George, I'm with them on this one" she said grinning. Bess let out a whoop of joy and went up to George.

"Its okay, George, I'll make sure you look absolutely stunning!"

George groaned and everyone laughed.

Hannah had packed up a big basket for the young people and bid them farewell, as she had to check on her mother who wasn't feeling well. It took a lot of convincing from Nancy and the others to convince Hannah to go to her mother. Around noon, the group went to the park and swam around in the lake. They had a good time chasing each other around in the water and dunking them once they get a hold of them. They had bought a beach ball and tossed it around in the water before it became a full on war between Frank and Nancy against Joe, Bess and George. After they had called quits, they headed to a nice spot under a large tree and sat in its shade, facing the water, for lunch. Around 5PM, Bes forced everyone to get up and leave so that they could get ready for the evening.

"We won't be going there for at least another three more hours or so!" Joe exclaimed.

"And this is exactly why I didn't want to go" George explained.

Once they all got home, they took turns taking a shower. The boys headed for the guest room and the girls were getting ready in Nancy's room.

"So tell me Nance," Bess said applying a light lipstick "What's going on between you and Frank?"

This question totally caught Nancy off guard, but she knew that it would have only been while before Bess would have noticed such a thing.

"What do you mean?" she asked, pretending she didn't know what Bess was talking about.

"Oh, come off it, you know very well what I mean" she said now applying blush on her cheeks.

"Yeah Nan, even I have noticed that something is going around between you and Frank" George said.

"Nooo, not you too George" Nancy groaned.

"That's my payback for this," she pointed to the brown spaghetti strapped dress she was wearing. "Not to mention what Bess is going to do with me once she's done applying her own makeup."

Nancy grimaced at George's remark.

"Now Nan, tell us what's going on" Bess repeated.

"Oh, I don't know, alright?" She thought back to last night, when they almost kissed. She shook her head. "All I know is that I can't stop thinking about him or the fact that there is no Ned or Callie in the way now. But I don't know if he feels the same way as I do or not"

"He likes you" Bess said.

"How do you know?"

"Just the way he looks at you" she replied simply. "Listen Nan, everyone knows that you two are perfect for each other. He just needs to muster up the courage and tell you how he feels. And knowing him, it will take a lot of work." She sighed. "I don't understand. He chases down crazy criminals, faces danger like every other day, almost gets himself killed, but just saying how he feels about you scares him."

"Oh stop being so dramatic Bess" Nancy said and George laughed. But she quietly agreed with what Bess just said.

Soon, the girls were ready and they headed downstairs where the boys were waiting. One glance at Nancy made Frank suck in his breath. She looked beautiful in the navy blue dress that reached just below her knees, her right shoulder bare and her hair tied up in an elegant bun. She smiled at him and he felt as if his heart melted. Beside him, Joe let out an appreciative whistle, taking in the girls.

"Whoa, and I thought you girls couldn't get any more beautiful." He said.

Bess smiled at him sweetly and George said "Hey Joe, you don't want me to call Vanessa and tell her that you're flirting with us, do you?"

"What...no...I" he stuttered and the girls laughed.

"Maybe you should just be quiet bro" Frank said, smiling at his brother.

"Right. You're right" Joe said.

Frank turned to Nancy, she was standing right in front of him now. "You look amazingly beautiful" he said, without thinking and both him and Nancy blushed.

"Why thank you, you don't look half bad yourself" Nancy smiled.

"Hey, you two, if you're done flirting with each other, could we leave now?" Joe said

The 'two' concerned blushed yet again and lightly smacked Joe in the back of the head.

"Shut up, Joseph" Frank said, using the name that Joe despises and visibly winced at the word "Let's go"

Once they had reached the club, they made their way through the packed place and headed for a table. They placed their orders and chatted for a while when Joe stood up and offered George to dance with him.

"May I have this dance with you?" he asked, in his best southern drawl. George looked surprised but she took the hand he offered and joined the dance floor with him.

"I think I'll go join them" Bess said, leaving Frank and Nancy alone. Nancy knew what Bess was doing. She winked at Nancy behind Frank's back and went towards where Joe and George were dancing.

"She doesn't skip a beat, does she?" Frank said, chuckling. Nancy was stunned that Frank knew what Bess was trying to do. He turned to look at Nancy in the eye.

"Nancy, do you want to da-" he began but stopped when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to find an attractive blonde smiling at him.

"Hey handsome, do you want to dance with me?"

Frank was shocked. "I...um.." he stuttered. Nancy stifled a laugh at the look on Frank's face. She was a bit annoyed that this woman interrupted Frank when he was going to ask her to dance with him but the look on his face made it worth it. She nudged Frank in the ribs and pushed him, making him get up. He looked at her pleadingly but she waved at him.

"Have fun dancing, Frank" she said sweetly.

The blonde said a quick thanks to Nancy and dragged Frank away with her. She watched as Frank did his best to dance without looking apprehensive and she let out a little laugh. _He's so cute when he's nervous and uncomfortable_, she thought. She looked away from Frank and looked around the place. She noticed a shaggy, red haired man around her age was staring at her, not too far away from her. She felt uncomfortable instantly and looked away. A few minutes later, she glanced at his direction again, and panicked a little when she saw that he was making his way towards her. A minute later, he was standing in front of her. He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward.

"Hey sugar, do you want to dance?"

"No thank you, I'm fine. I'm waiting for my friends." She replied.

"Come on, we'll have a little fun before they come."

"They're already here."

"What kind of friends do you have, leaving a hottie like you alone?" he reached out one of his hands and touched Nancy's bare shoulder and slowly slid his hand down her arm, causing Nancy to shiver with disgust. She clenched her jaw and moved away, feeling very uncomfortable. The man, sat down beside her, on the spot she moved away from.

"Oh, come on babe, one dance. Then we can go somewhere."

She turned to look at the man. "I already told you, I don't want to dance with you" she said angrily.

"Oh but I do" he brought his hand down to her knee and immediately got his arm yanked away by a furious looking Frank Hardy.

"I think she has made it very clear that she doesn't want anything to do with you. Now leave, before things get worse for you." The man stood up and stared silently at Frank.

"Beat it" Frank hissed.

Frank and Nancy watched as the man stalked his way through the dance floor and out the floor. Nancy, who was standing by now, let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Are you okay?" Frank asked, making his way around the table to Nancy, concern all over his face and voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine" she smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone like that" he said sincerely.

Nancy stared at him. "Frank Hardy, don't you dare blame yourself for what just happened!" she said angrily "I wanted you to dance with her, so I don't see how it is your fault"

"I can't help myself from worrying about the woman I..."he trailed off, suddenly realizing what he was about to say. Nancy's eyes widened.

"About the woman you what?" she whispered.

Frank took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "About the woman I love."

Nancy couldn't believe what she had just heard escape Frank's lips. What he just said. She suddenly grabbed his head and pulled it down and kissed him. Frank was surprised at first, but he reacted immediately, kissing her back and pulling her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. The kiss deepened, their feelings pouring out of their hearts and shared with the passionate kiss. When Nancy pulled apart for air, his forehead was leaning against her forehead and she murmured against his lips "I love you too" and felt Frank smile. They jumped apart when they heard applause and cheering, and saw Joe, Bess and George grinning ear to ear and cheering, along with some other people. Frank blushed a deep shade of scarlet but he was grinning goofily. Nancy was blushing too and smiled sheepishly. Bess, George and Joe came over and Bess gave both of them a big hug.

"It's about time!" she shouted happily, tears in her eyes.

"Bess! What's wrong?" Nancy asked, noticing the tears in her friend's eyes.

"Those are tears of happiness, silly" she said, and hugged Nancy again, wiping away her tears.

"Congrats bro" Joe said clapping a hand on Frank's shoulder. "I knew it was a matter of time before this happened"

At that moment, a slow song started playing.

"This is a song specially requested to be played for Frank Hardy and Nancy Drew" the DJ said.

Frank and Nancy looked confused and looked over by where the DJ was to find George grinning and gave them thumbs up. Frank wrapped Nancy in his arms once more as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. They danced like that for what seemed like forever but none of them complained, happy to be in each other's arms at long last.

When it was finally time to go home, Joe drove the car while Bess sat on the passenger seat. George tagged along with Frank and Nancy in the back, who were holding hands and Nancy was resting her head on Frank's shoulder.

"Gosh, I feel like a third wheel" George muttered, and everyone laughed and Nancy gave her a hug. It was clear that everyone in car was carefree and happy, just living the moment.

But they had no idea what was waiting for them once they finally got home.

Once they got home, everyone was tired and made their way upstairs. Upon entering Nancy's room, Bess let out a scream. The boys rushed into the room and stared at the window, which was now covered with a message in blood red letters.

_If you want your friends to be safe, then you will make them leave and none shall suffer. If not, then they shall suffer the consequences of getting in our way. Especially the tall, dark haired boy. He will die at my hands. Consider this my first and last warning._

_**A/N: So...what do you think?! Review please, and let me know!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Things are really heating up now. More action! And there is some language in this chapter, so sorry if you find it offending. I'm so happy that people are enjoying this story. S/O to SinfulAshe for the review. I'm glad that you find my story enjoyable; I will try my best to make it even better.**_

_**Also another S/O to Esmerelda Diana Parker for the review. You guessed most of it right, as you will see in this chapter :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I haven't done this in a while. So here goes...I don't own any of the characters, as you already know. **_

The terror in the room was quite evident. George was hugging Bess and trying to calm her down while Bess went to the window and looked outside. Nancy felt her breath get caught when she read the last few sentences. She grabbed Frank's hand and squeezed it. He turned to look at her, fear in her eyes and face, and squeezed her hand in return, comforting her. Suddenly, the phone started to ring and everyone jumped.

"What the...?" Frank muttered. It was late in the night and he was just as confused as everyone else who would call this late into the night.

"H-hello?" Nancy answered

"Hello Nancy," Frank didn't have to guess who the call was from, as he saw the little remaining color drain from her face. Nancy quickly turned the phone on speaker.

"What do you want? Why don't you just leave me and my friends alone?" she said shakily. She was trembling from fear and anger.

"I already told you what I want. I want you. But I'm not calling now to profess my love for you," Nancy shivered and Frank wrapped his arm around her shoulder and got hold of her free hand. "I can see that you and your friends got the message I left. And I mean it when I say that I will kill that _boyfriend_ of yours. Nobody can have you except for me and I will get rid of those who get near you. If you want him to live, then he shall leave by noon tomorrow along with that brother of his."

"Listen here you sick bastard," Frank spoke up, his anger rising fast. "Trust me when I tell you, I'm staying right here with Nancy and nothing is going to change that, no matter what you do."

"Oh, is that so? Then I will _enjoy_ killing you. Your death will be a warning for whoever tries to get near Nancy. Your time is coming to an end, boy."

"You know, you talk too much for a man who can only leave pathetic notes to threaten others in the middle of the night." Joe said loudly, storming towards the phone with rage. "And what you're doing now, calling to leave an empty threat that you will kill my brother? It just goes to show that you don't have the guts to say all that crap you just said to my brother's face. And when we find you, and believe me, we _will_ find you, we are going to kick that monkey ass of yours. Hell, I don't even have to do anything, my brother will kick your ass single handed in two minutes, while I will just stand and watch and cheer him on."

The man on the other line was silent for a moment and then he laughed. He laughed a cold, harsh laugh, which sounded more like a dog barking.

"And you were saying that I talk too much?" he cackled "You know what, I wouldn't mind killing you with your brother. I will show you exactly how much of an _empty_ threat it is."

"Tell you what Joe?" Frank said loudly "I can't wait for the moment when he has the guts to come face to face with us. We will make him rue the day he decided to stalk Nancy. In fact, I have a feeling that he is right around here somewhere outside, watching us. Because he mentioned that he can _see that we saw the message_. What do you say we go out and hunt this creep down?"

With that the brothers bolted out of the room and headed downstairs.

"What? Wait!" the man yelled into the phone and then hung up. The girls ran downstairs as fast as they could behind the brothers

Frank rushed towards the front door with Joe right behind his heels. They looked around before spotting a figure running across the side street towards the small playground.

"There he is!" Joe yelled. He ran after the man with Frank right beside him. The man was already more than halfway across the playground when Frank and Joe reached it. The brothers were almost halfway across when the man jumped into a car parked on the street and drove away.

"Damn it!" Frank yelled in frustration.

The brothers went back towards the house breathing heavily, when they heard the sirens. Two cop cars came down the street and stopped in front of the house.

"I called the police" George said, explaining to the brothers.

The officers took their statements and Nancy told them everything what she could about the notes, the phone calls and the threat to kill Frank. The officers looked around the room and outside Nancy's window to see if they could find anything, but to no luck. Once the officers left, they headed back inside into the living room, no one saying anything and they knew that sleep would not come now. Nancy was sitting on the couch with Bess on her left and George on her right, Joe was sitting on the rocking chair by the loveseat and Frank was leaning against the wall by the window, staring outside. Nancy couldn't take the silence any longer and broke the silence.

"I think you guys should leave" she said.

Her words caused uproar of protests. Frank whipped around and looked right at Nancy, while Bess, George and Joe exclaimed "What?!" together.

"Guys, please, listen to what I have to say," Nancy said "I can't let you guys stay here, knowing that it could lead to some serious consequences. I can't risk that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happens to any of you" she said her last sentence looking at Frank in the eye.

"Nancy, you heard what I told him and I'm going to say it again, I am not leaving." Frank said.

"But Frank-"

"No," he cut her off "please Nancy, don't say anything. I am going to stay here and protect you and that is what I want." he declared, finality in his voice. He turned to Joe and said "Joe, I think you should leave though."

"What?! Why?! I care about Nancy as much as you do!"

"I know, but I don't want anything to happen to you. He wants me. It won't do any good if he comes after you too"

"Frank, if you think even for one second that I am going to leave you here knowing that some creep is out there looking to do you in, then you must be crazy. And I will punch you and knock sense in you"

Frank sighed and knew that his brother is not going to listen so he gave up. "Fine"

"But why don't both of you just go back home and stay safe? No one will get hurt that way!"Nancy exclaimed.

"Why? Because I love you, Nancy! You know very well that I won't leave you no matter what, with someone stalking you! I won't be able to forgive myself if something happens to you, knowing that I had the choice to stay here and protect you. So please Nan, for my sake, just drop it." Frank said sincerely.

Nancy could feel her eyes watering up. She looked at Bess and George pleadingly to try to convince the boys to go.

"Sorry Nan, but they are the Hardys," Bess said quietly, with the smallest of smiles "You know they won't leave you when you're in danger, especially Frank. And I'm not leaving either."

"Me neither, Nan. You can't possibly expect us to leave our best friend when she needs us the most." George said.

Nancy could feel tears flowing freely down her face now, and got her two best friends in a fierce hug. Bess was crying now too and George could feel tears in her eyes too. Nancy got up and hugged Joe and he hugged her back, holding her close. Frank walked over to where Nancy was and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around sobbed in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to sooth her. It broke Frank's heart to see the girl he loves in so much pain. He had never seen Nancy break down like this. He could sense angry bubbles rising at the pit of his stomach. He will not spare the person who caused her so much pain.

"We are here for you Nan," he whispered. "We will always be here for you."

_**A/N: Kind of dramatic, don't you think? I like this chapter! I enjoyed writing this one, and I can only hope you guys like it too. I look forward to the reviews! All of the reviews have been so nice so far, it makes me happy and proud. Thank you all so much! Until the next chapter..**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Ahhh, this chapter took me a while to come up with, but I'm proud of what I managed to get. There's only a few more chapters after this one. I'm pretty sure Chapter 13 is going to be kinda short, so I will try to post both 13 and 14 on the same day! Now read on!**_

Sleep was hard to come for the people living under the roof of the Drew's. It was 4AM in the morning before any of the girls went to sleep. Bess had refused to sleep in the room with the message painted on the window, so the boys had got to work to clean the window. Joe was on the couch today and Frank was in the guest room. Bess and George had fallen asleep almost instantly, but Nancy was having trouble sleeping. Soon, her eyes got heavy and she fell into a fitful sleep.

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_Nancy was standing all alone in a dark room. Only, it was endless. She had her hands up in front of her while she took small steps to reach the wall, but nothing ever came. She wasn't panicked. She was frustrated. When after walking in the same direction in the dark for what seemed like hours, she turned to the right and started walking that way. Her arms were hurting from holding them in front of her for so long, but she couldn't give up, she had to go on. Finally, she saw a small sliver of light beneath a door on the other end and she started walking towards it. The sliver of light became bigger and bigger and when she finally reached the door, she tried to open the door but there was no knob on the door. She was going to push the door open when a small window appeared on her left. Someone had turned on the light on the other side of the door. She walked up to the window and peered through it. What she saw made her stomach wrench horribly. Bess and George were clinging to each other, crying, their clothes ripped and blood all over them. Joe was lying on the ground shaking violently. And there was Frank. He was bloodied, battered and bruised. Someone was standing over Frank, wearing all black but the face blurred. The man had a knife in one hand and a crowbar in the other hand. Nancy started screaming and pounded on the window. The man in the room turned around and looked at Nancy and had a sickening, twisted smile on his blurred face. Frank was struggling to get on his feet. The man smacked the crowbar into Frank's stomach and he doubled over and collapsed on his knees. _

"NOO!" Nancy yelled_._

_She ran to the door and pushed it with all her force. Bess and George saw Nancy and pleaded her to go away. But she was looking at Frank, who was kneeling on the ground, looking right in her eyes. "Run" he whispered, "Nancy...run". She tried to move but she couldn't. She was frozen in place._

_The man suddenly swung the crowbar and hit Frank right in the head, and Frank fell on the floor. She wanted to run to Frank, hold him in her arms, but she couldn't. _

"NOOO! LEAVE HIM ALONE! PLEASE! FRANK!"

_The man grabbed Frank by the throat and pulled him to his feet; he looked at Nancy and said, "He doesn't deserve you. You're mine. He has to die." With that, he stabbed Frank in the stomach._

"NOOO! NOOOO!"

_He stabbed Frank again and again in the stomach and chest._

"Nancy! Wake up! You're okay! Nancy!"

_The man walked to her and started shaking her..._

Nancy's eyes flew open and she was crying. She was shaking horribly and she was soaked in cold sweat.

"He killed him! Frank is dead!" she whispered, and a fresh wave of tears started flowing and she hugged her knees to her chest and let her head fall, still shaking violently.

"Nancy, it was just a nightmare, Frank is right here!" Bess said, tears in her eyes as well. She had never seen Nancy break down like this and it was painful to watch.

"Nan, I'm right here. You're okay. I'm okay." Frank said and hugged her.

"F-Frank?" Nancy whispered, her eyes still closed and her head on her knees.

"Yeah, I'm right here Nancy"

"You-you-you're dead!"

"Nancy, open your eyes. Look at me. I'm right here. I'm not dead."

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Frank. She flung her arms around him and sobbed in his chest. "I-I-saw you d-d-die!"

"It's okay Nancy, it was just a dream. You're fine. I'm fine" he hugged her close to him and placed his chin on top of her head. He looked at Joe and said "Get some water for her" Joe nodded and took off.

A couple of minutes later, her came back with a glass of water and gave it to Frank.

"Here, drink some water" Frank said.

Nancy drank the water and she seemed to have calmed down. "I'm so sorry, it looked so real! I thought I lost you, Frank. I don't want to lose you."

"You will never lose me Nancy. Never. No matter how hard you try."

She let out a feeble laugh at his attempt to make a joke.

"Thank you" she whispered, and kissed him tenderly on the lips. He kissed her back and the kiss deepened. They were about to lose themselves in the moment when Joe cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem. Knock it off you two. There are other people in this room too, you know."

Frank pulled away and looked at his brother.

"You're one to talk. You and Vanessa go at it all the time. This is just a dose of your own medicine, you could say."

Joe chose to ignore Frank's remark about him and Vanessa. "Speaking of Vanessa, I need to call her. Thanks for reminding."

"You're welcome little bro."

He looked at Bess and George and they were smiling brightly. He felt himself turn red and he stammered. "I..uh..I guess I should leave...so Nancy can change..see you downstairs." With that he took off.

Bess and George laughed and Nancy gave a weak smile.

"You scared the hell out of us Nance" George said finally. "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?"

Nancy shook her head. "No it's fine. It was just a stupid nightmare. I was being silly."

"That was not silly at all!" Bess huffed. "Nancy, I have _never_ seen you like that. I don't think you would be like that if it was silly."

"Anyways, it's late already. We need to do something about breakfast and lunch." George said.

Nancy looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was almost noon. The stalker had said that the Hardys had till noon to leave...

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?! I might have not had to look at that dream either!"

"Well, we just woke up like 15 minutes ago ourselves. We thought we would let you sleep in for a bit."

Nancy got off the bed and went towards the washroom. "I'll take a shower and see you downstairs. We'll think of what to do next."

Bess and George watched as Nancy closed the door behind her and made their way downstairs.

"How is she doing?" Frank asked.

"You just left her 5 minutes ago, Frank" Bess giggled "She's the same as when you left her. You have a way of calming her down." She winked at him and Frank blushed. Luckily, for him, Joe saved him by getting the girls' attention.

"I'm starving! When Hannah going to come back? It's noon and I haven't had anything to eat since last night!" Joe complained.

"I don't know when Hannah's coming back, but if you're starving, why don't you go into the kitchen and make yourself something?" George replied.

Joe mumbled something inaudible and Frank laughed. He got up and went into the kitchen and looked around to see what he can have for breakfast. He was joined by Joe, Bess and George, as they all looked for something to prepare for themselves for breakfast. Nancy walked in a few minutes later and watched as her friends were making breakfast. Joe was the first one to notice her, who was taking out the plates. "You can do something and help too, you know. We can do with some coffee."

Nancy laughed and made her way to the coffee machine. Soon they all sat and had breakfast of eggs and sausages.

"Frank! This is delicious!" Bess exclaimed.

"Agreed" George said.

"I didn't know you could cook so well." Nancy said and smiled at him and laughed when Frank was turning red yet again.

"He wassa boy shcout" Joe said with his mouthful. He took a giant swallow and continued "He can make scrambled eggs in the woods using wood. And Mom teaches him how to cook too."

Suddenly, the phone rang and Nancy was standing up to answer the phone but Frank stopped her. "I'll get it. I think I know who it is." He went into the living room and answered the phone.

"Hello?" Frank answered.

"Lover boy, you're still here. I seem to remember that I told you to leave by noon. And it's half past twelve now. You're time's up. You brought this upon yourself. I'm going to make you all suffer."

"I don't-" Frank started, but before he could say anything more, the phone hung up on the other line. Everyone else joined Frank in the living room now. The look on his face told everyone who had called.

"What did he say bro?" Joe asked.

"He said our time is up"

Joe swore softly under his breath. "Do you think we should-?"

"Yes" Frank replied, before Joe could finish his question. The boys nodded to each other and went upstairs, leaving Nancy, Bess and George confused.

"What the hell was that about?" George finally spoke.

"No idea" Bess said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for them to come back down and ask them" Nancy said.

A couple of minutes later, the boys came back down and each had a bag with him.

"You guys are leaving?" Bess asked incredulously.

"Nope. Preparing" Joe answered.

Joe started moving the stuff off the coffee table by the phone and placed them on the dining table. Frank closed the curtains and opened a bag and took out a big black machine. George seemed to recognize what it was and she let out a low whistle.

"No way...How did you guys get your hands on that?" she asked, astonished.

"Perks of having a world famous detective as your father" Joe replied and smirked. George punched his arm lightly.

"What is that?" Nancy and Bess asked in unison.

"It's a call tracer" Frank said.

"Not just a call tracer," George said in awe, "It can identify whether a phone is landline or cell phone and if it's disposable or not. It opens up the codes of a number that cannot be identified and gives you the exact number. It also shows the location where the call is incoming from. If we know a number, we have to put it in and it automatically sets to track the location of the phone, like a GPS."

Nancy and Bess looked at Frank for confirmation and he smiled and nodded. "Looks like George knows way more than just some small techy stuff" Joe said laughing.

"So does this mean that when the stalker calls next time, we will have his number and location and we can catch him?" Bess asked excitedly.

"Yup," Frank answered, "I just need to connect it to my laptop and the phone and we're all set."

"Why didn't you use it before?" Nancy asked.

"It takes up a lot of electricity and uses various different satellites to track the phone. Be ready to have a huge electricity bill at the end of the month. I just hope your Dad doesn't get mad at us. But we will pay for it if it's too big."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Dad will understand" Nancy said and took Frank's hand in hers. He squeezed it and smiled and took out his laptop and some extension cords from the bag.

"Uhh, why did you guys close the curtains, Frank?" Bess asked

"So that the creep won't know what we're doing" he said with a grin.

"Oh! Right"

He tossed a cord to Joe, who connected one end to the phone and the other to the tracer. Frank took another cord and plugged one end into the laptop and the other to the tracer. Frank started his laptop and while it loaded, he opened the other bag. He pulled out two guns. Bess shrieked and George's eyes widened. He tossed one to Joe and held one up for Nancy.

"Wh-what? Why are you giving this to me?" she said surprised.

"You need to have one with you at all times now, Nan. You have to take it to defend yourself. Just in case"

"You need it more than I do, Frank. He threatened to _kill you_"

"She's got a point, Frank" Joe said "He's made it clear that he wants to get you."

"I know. But I can take care of myself." Frank said.

"I can take care of myself too!" Nancy retorted angrily.

"I know you can," he put his hands on her shoulders, "But I would feel better if I know you have it with you. For my sake Nancy, please."

The tone in his voice, the way he pleaded made Nancy to take the gun. She nodded and took the gun he held out to her. The cool metal under her palms made her shudder. Frank noticed that too.

"You only have to use it in emergencies. I hope it won't get to that, but just as a precaution."

"Frank, I think you should have a gun with you too" Joe said. "Take mine"

"No, Joe. You are in as much danger as I am. He said it himself, he would have no problem to get you too." He said quietly. "Besides, I'm way better than you at martial arts too" he added and smirked, trying to lessen the tension in the room.

"Yeah right, think again big brother" Joe grumbled, and the girls laughed.

"Oh my God. Guns!" Bess whimpered, "You guys really are professionals now"

"Do you guys have a permit to use them?" George asked.

"You betcha" Joe said.

Frank's laptop beeped, signalling that the setup for the tracer is complete.

"Okay, it's all set. Next time he calls, we get him" Frank said with a grin.

"And then we kick his ass" Joe added cheerfully.

"Right on, little brother. He messed with the wrong pair of brothers."

_**A/N: I just cooked up this idea of the call tracer. I don't even know if a call tracer like that even exists, but I fancy the qualities of this call tracer that came up in my imagination. I hope y'all like and continue reading this story. Read and review! :D **_


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. The stalker had not called since when he called earlier in the afternoon. There was nothing much to do for the young people, as they thought that it would make them an easy target if they leave out to go anywhere for too long. Nancy had spent some time talking to her father and letting him know what's going on and about the new threats. They still hadn't had lunch, as they had breakfast so late. Joe was made his hunger heard by complaining.

"I'm starving! But I don't want to make anything again for lunch again like for breakfast!" Joe groaned.

"What are you talking about? _You_ didn't make anything, I did" Frank shot back.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"How about we order some pizza?" Bess asked

"Yes! That's great. Actually, I'm going to go and get it. I'm too bored of just sitting over here and do nothing." Joe said.

"I'll come with you. I'm bored too."

"Alright then. Let's go!" turning to Nancy, he asks, "Hey Nan, can i borrow your car to get the pizza? I don't think there is enough fuel in my bike."

"Sure" Nancy said, and tossed him her keys. "Just don't crash it"

"Don't worry, I won't" he grinned.

With that, Joe and Bess made their way out the front door and got into Nancy's blue convertible. Bess guided Joe to the nearest pizza parlour. Joe veered the car into the parking lot, parked the car, and both of them got out.

"Wow, looks like there aren't many people here. Nobody likes pizza over here or something?" Joe commented.

"I don't know. Probably because this is no time to have lunch." Bess replied.

"You're right, that might be it."

The two were making their way across the parking lot when Joe had a feeling that they were being followed. He looked around but it was too late. A guy wearing all black was charging towards him with a baseball bat. Before Joe could react, the guy swung the bat at Joe's head. Bess's scream was the last thing he heard as he dropped unconscious before he hit the ground.

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Joe woke up with a splitting headache. He could feel something sticky covering one side of his face: blood. His legs and hands were tied up to a chair and beside him, Bess was in a similar position and still unconscious. He took in the place where they were being held captive. It looked like there were being held in an abandoned warehouse. There was only one window in the room and it looked like they were on the second floor. There was just one bed in the corner and a desk that was piled with food cans and papers. Above the desk were pictures. Pictures of Nancy. Joe could feel his anger rising. _What a creep! Wait till I get my hands on him! _There was no sign of the stalker in the room. He tried to wriggle his hands around, but the knots were too tight.

"Bess," Joe whispered, "Wake up, we have to try and get out of here. Bess!"

Bess started moving and her eyes slowly fluttered open. Once she was able to focus, a look of panic crossed her face.

"Joe! Where are we? Oh no, you're bleeding!"

"I'm fine," he grunted, "And I was hoping you would know where we are, since you live over here."

"How could you expect me to know where we are? This place is dirty! I don't know anything about dirt places"

"You two are awake now, huh?" said a voice from the doorway. They looked towards the doorway and found the owner of the voice. He was a lanky, shaggy, red haired man, a couple of years older than them.

"You must be blind if you're asking if we're awake or not" Joe said. "Huh?" he added, mocking the red haired guy.

The guy came up to Joe and smacked him across the face.

"Trying to get cheeky with me, huh? You don't want to me make me angry. You have already made me angry enough by showing up with that brother of yours."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we came. We can help put a worthless piece of trailer trash like you in jail, where you belong. My brother is gonna come, save us, and then kick that ginger ass of yours"

This time the man pulled a gun from behind his back and pointed the barrel on Joe's head and Bess gasped.

"You say one more thing to piss me off and I blow your brains out. You recognize this?" He waved the gun in his hand. "How ironic would it be if I kill you with your own gun."

Joe swore loudly and immediately paid the price. The man brought the butt of the gun down on Joe's head and he was knocked out once more.

"Stop it!" Bess shrieked.

The man looked at Bess for the first since he made his appearance and looked her up and down with a sickening smile on his face. Bess shuddered at his gaze, but held her head up defiantly.

"Worried about your friend here? He deserves it"

"If anyone deserves to be treated like that, it's you! And the Hardys will make sure of that!"

He backhanded Bess across the face and cackled.

"Hardys? Is that what these boys call themselves? They look like weaklings to me!"

"Just you wait, once Frank gets here, you are going to be sorry for hurting his brother"

She got backhanded across the face again for her efforts, and this time she could feel the blood in her mouth. Seeing the blood on her lips, he leaned closer to her.

"You know, I hate to see that pretty mouth of yours covered in blood. Let me help you get rid of that" he whispered. He leaned closer to Bess face, and when she turned away, he turned her face and kissed her forcefully. When he pulled away Bess started sobbing and tears were pouring down her face.

"I didn't know Nancy's friend tastes so delicious," he sneered. "I'm going to have so much fun with you, while you're here. I might even have you along with Nancy. No, I _will_ have you with Nancy. Oh my, that would be wild. Speaking of Nancy, let's give her a call."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What's taking them so long? They've been gone for more than an hour" George said worriedly.

"I don't know, I just tried Joe's phone, but it's turned off." Frank said.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Nancy muttered "We should have just had the pizza delivered here."

"I want to go to the pizza parlour and check over there. But I don't want to leave you two alone over here." Frank said.

"Don't worry about us Frank, we'll be fine. Besides, I have a gun. If anything happens, I'll call you" Nancy said.

Frank hugged her and said "Be careful."

"You too"

Just as Frank was about to head out towards the front door, the phone rang. Frank darted back and told Nancy to answer the phone. He got on the laptop and activated the call tracer. Once he was ready, he nodded to Nancy, and she turned the loudspeaker on.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Nancy...I thought you would have answered the phone faster than that, seeing as your two friends are missing"

"How dare you kidnap my friends? Let them go!"

"I will let the boy go if you come to me. I plan on keeping you and the other girl. What fun we'll have together." he sneered.

"No, you will let them both go! That's the deal"

"Nancy...you come to the woods that are 5 miles south out of town in an hour alone and I will come pick you up. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you to not tell the police, or both of them will die. Until then, I will have some fun with the blondie. She tastes delicious you know? That's why I plan on keeping you both."

Nancy felt her stomach twist horribly at his words. Before she could say anything. Frank got up from his spot from the phone, a look of pure fury on his face.

"Don't you dare touch her, you bastard" Frank said in a low growl.

"Oh? Shouldn't you be worrying about Nancy instead of Bess? And as for not touching her, I already did. Why don't you ask her yourself what I did?"

"Frank? Nancy?" Bess said in a quiet shaky voice.

"Bess! I'm coming Bess, don't you worry, I'm coming and I will get you out of there" Nancy said.

"Where's Joe? What did he do to Joe? What did he do to you?" Frank asked urgently.

"Joe's beside me, but he's knocked out. He's not looking good Frank, he lost a lot of blood. He beat Joe with a baseball bat on the head when he got us at the parlour and then he took Joe's gun and hit him again in the head a few minutes ago."

Frank swore loudly. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

There was silence for a moment and then they heard Bess sob. "He-he slapped me and then k-k-kissed me" she choked out.

"Did you hear that?" the stalker's voice said "I _kissed_ her. And I plan to do much more before picking Nancy up."

"You sick son of bitch, I'll kill you!" Nancy yelled.

"Nancy, you surprise me. I didn't know you were such a feisty type. Oh this gets better and better. Remember one hour. No police. No Hardy."

He hung up the phone. Frank swore again and went over to the laptop.

"I got the info. His name is Jack O'Neil. 21 years old." He stated. He pulled up a picture of the man.

"He looks kind of familiar. I'm pretty sure I've seen him somewhere" he commented.

Nancy looked at the picture and gasped. "It's him! The guy at the dance club who was making a move on me! The one you scared away!"

"You're right! That's him! We have him now. He is 20 miles south from town." He pulled up a satellite picture of the location. "It looks like its some kinda barn or warehouse. If I leave now, I can get there in 10 minutes"

"How can you get there in 10 minutes? It takes half an hour"

"Nancy, you're forgetting what bike he has" George said.

"Right. Fine, I'm coming with you, Frank"

"Nan, you can't. We can't just leave George here alone. And it's not safe."

"I know very well that it's not safe!" she said angrily

"But he's right about one thing. I'm not staying here alone, with all my friends gone to some god forbidden place and worry about them." George said, just as angrily.

"Listen to me Nancy. I'll drop you off at the pizza parlour. You pick your car up from there, come back here and pick George up."

"But I don't have the keys. Joe has them."

"You're right." Frank ran a hand through his hair frustratingly. "Do you think you can hotwire your car?"

"Yeah, I think I can"

"Okay, good. George," he turned to George "while you wait for Nancy, call the police and tell them that Bess and Joe have been kidnapped and they are being held at that warehouse."

George nodded.

"Okay, let's go Nan."

They hurried out the door and into the garage, where the Hardys bikes were kept. Frank took the spare helmet that Joe had and gave it to Nancy. Soon, they were speeding on the streets. Frank pulled his bike over beside Nancy car in the parking lot. Nancy hopped off the bike and before, getting into her car, she hugged Frank tightly.

"Be careful" she whispered.

He nodded and sped off. She watched as he speeded down the road, until he was out of sight.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: I couldn't send any S/O's in the previous chapter because my dad was coming back and I forgot about it in a hurry. S/O to Angelvie S for the really nice review. I doubt my story is very good but I appreciate it and it made me happy by saying its the best fanfic you have read in a while :) Anyways, we are coming closer to the end of the story. There's just one more after this. So a total of 15 chapters. Here comes Frank, ready to kick ass! Enjoy!**_

Frank sped down the road at breakneck speed. He pulled over on the side of the road several hundred yards away when the abandoned warehouse came into sight. He looked at his watch and, even in the given tense situation, he grinned. He made it from Nancy's house to the pizza parlour to the warehouse in a record time of 9 minutes. He sprinted as fast as he could towards the warehouse and once he got there, he stealthily walked around the warehouse, his back to the wall and looking through each window he found, before returning to the front door. He silently entered through the front door and took in his surroundings. He was standing in one big empty room. There was a staircase straight ahead leading to the second floor. He decided to look around for any clues before heading upstairs, just in case. He started going towards the stairs when something caught his eye. He silently went over and realized that it was two cell phones. He recognized one of them to be Joe's and figured the other one was Bess's. Jack must have tossed them aside when he got in. Now that he had looked for everything on the ground floor, Frank went straight for the staircase. He moved up the staircase as silently as he could. When he reached to the top, he could hear a muffled sounds coming off to his left. He turned in that direction and walked slowly towards the source of the sound. Upon getting closer to the door through which the voices can be heard, he could make out Jack's leering tone and Bess's sobs. Frank was now right outside the door, leaning against the wall. He chanced a peak through the open door and what he saw made his blood boil with anger. Joe was passed out on a chair, blood covering one whole side of his face and a small puddle of blood surrounding the chair he sat on. And then there was Jack. He was leaning over Bess and kissing her forcefully. When he pulled apart, he started tugging on Bess's shirt. Frank let out a roar of fury, smashed open the door, and charged right at Jack. Jack went to reach for his gun but before he could get a grip on it, Frank caught him in a flying tackle, both of them landing on the floor hard and getting the wind knocked right out of both of them. Before Jack could recover, Frank got on top of him, grabbed the collar of Jack's shirt using both hands and pulled him closer to his face.

"I had warned you to leave us alone, but you didn't listen. Now you pay the price" Frank growled.

With that, he landed a punch on Jack's scared face, and knocked him out cold. Breathing heavily, Frank got up and stared at Jack with disgust. He then turned around and quickly rushed to Joe's side to check his pulse. It was still there. He breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly untied Joe's ropes and called the ambulance. He then moved to Bess, who was shaking uncontrollably.

"I've got you now, Bess. It's all over." He soothed her. He untied her hands and then worked on the ropes tying her legs. Once they were off, she let out a sob and a fresh wave of tears poured down her already tear stained face. Frank pulled her to her feet and she hugged him fiercely. He hugged her back and said soothing words to her. In the distance, sirens could be heard.

"The cops will be here soon, it's over. You're safe."

Bess nodded, and then, without any warning, she caught Frank off guard as she planted her lips on his.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nancy was on the road that led to the warehouse. George had called the cops and told her everything that Frank had told her to tell. The two were worried sick about Frank, Bess and Joe. Each had their own thoughts and none of them spoke until, after 20 minutes of driving, George saw Frank's bike pulled over on the side of the road.

"There's Frank's bike!"she exclaimed.

"We must be close" Nancy said excited.

No sooner had she said that, they passed Frank's bike and the warehouse came into view. They stopped several feet away from the warehouse. They quickly got out of the car and then heard the wail of the police sirens in the distance. They cautiously entered the warehouse through the front door and were cautiously looking around when they heard a thud upstairs. They looked at each other and Nancy nodded, leading the way up the stairs. She turned left at the top of the staircase as that's where the noise had come from. She cautiously approached the door and poked her head around. She couldn't believe what she saw and felt the color drain her face. One of her best friend's was kissing the guy she loved. She was too shocked to notice that the figure on the floor behind Frank was moving. It was only until he had stood up that Nancy realized that he was pointing a gun at the back of Frank's head.

"Watch out!" she screamed, as she saw in horror the finger tightening on the trigger.

No sooner had she said that, a shot rang out through the warehouse.

_**A/N: I guess I added some drama now with Bess kissing Frank. Hehehehehe! And then a nice cliffy. Haa, I cant wait to see the reaction of you guys reading this chapter! I surprised myself when I came up with that idea! Review and lemme know what you think of this chapter! Please! :)**_

_**P.S: Next chapter is the last chapter.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: This is the final chapter in my story Detective in Danger. I'm not gonna talk much over here since you all have been waiting for what happens next after the cliffy in the last chapter. So I won't keep you waiting, here it is! Enjoy!**_

"_Watch out!"_

As soon as he heard Nancy's voice pierce through the air, Frank grabbed Bess and went down on the floor. And not a moment too soon, as a gunshot rang right where Frank was standing just a second ago! Jack, by hearing the police sirens come closer, knew that he had lost. He realized that there was no escape. He rounded the gun on Nancy.

"If I can't have you, then there is just one option left. I kill you, so that nobody else can have you."

Nancy stood there in shock, as though she was paralyzed, and watched as he pulled the trigger. Out of nowhere, Frank tackled her to the floor. She gasped when she saw the blood pouring out of his shoulder. Frank just got himself shot to save her life. But Frank was feeling something much more than pain. He was feeling hatred and anger like he never felt before. The fact that Jack had shot at Nancy with the intention of killing her made him cross the line from cool, level-headed and logical, to furious beyond reason. He got up and charged at Jack, who shot at Frank again, this time getting him in the chest. All three girls watching screamed. But Frank didn't drop. He lunged through the air and another shot got him, this time in the side of his stomach. Both men went down. Frank got hold of the gun and smashed it right on Jack's forehead, knocking him out. Right at that moment, cops flooded the room and paramedics entered the room. Frank rolled off Jack's limp form and struggled to stay conscious. He saw Nancy rushing towards him before he was enveloped in darkness.

Nancy rushed to Frank's side and held his hand.

"Frank! Frank!" she yelled, tears pouring down her face. "Help him, he's shot!" she yelled at the paramedics. She watched as the paramedics rushed over to Frank and checked his pulse.

"He's still with us! Get the gurney!" one of them yelled.

Nancy, Bess and George watched as they loaded Frank in the gurney and rushed off. One of the police officers came over to the group of girls and asked them questions. Nancy recognized the officer to be the one who came to their house just last night.

"So this was the guy who was stalking you?" he asked.

Nancy nodded silently.

"I hope your friends will be okay" he said gently "He's going in for a long time after what he has done. Stalking, threatening messages, assaulting, kidnapping and attempted murder."

"And attempted rape" Bess added quietly.

Nancy and George turned to look at Bess. She was staring at the floor, with a faraway look. They took in Bess's rough appearance, blood covering her mouth and a bruise forming on one side of her face. A part of her shirt looked ripped.

"I think you should get checked out as well" the officer said gently to Bess. "The ambulances left, those two boys had lost a lot of blood. I can give you guys a ride to the hospital."

"Its ok officer, we brought our car" Nancy said quietly.

The officer nodded. "You guys are free to go. We'll take care of what's here. I suggest you take your friend to the hospital. She's been through quite a lot."

The girls mumbled their thanks and went out. It was dark by now. George knew that neither Nancy nor Bess were any condition to drive, so she took the keys from Nancy and drove to the hospital as fast as she could. Upon reaching the hospital, Nancy and George quickly got out, but Bess stayed still. George looked at Nancy and Nancy nodded. The two girls helped their friend get out of the car rushed her to the ER.

"She needs to get checked out. She was kidnapped and witnessed the shooting and brutal assault on our friends that were brought in here just a few minutes ago." Nancy said quickly to the nurse at the nurse station.

"She was a victim of attempted rape too" George added to the nurse in an undertone, making sure Bess did not hear. The nurse nodded and rushed Bess into a separate room.

"You should get checked out too, Nan" George said.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just worried about those three." Nancy replied.

The two girls sat on the hard chairs waiting. Suddenly, George's stomach rumbled and they both smiled and realized how hungry they were. They hadn't had anything for the last 7 hours. George went to the vending machines and got something to eat for both of them. Half an hour later, a doctor came out and came towards the two girls.

"Is one of you Nancy?" he asked.

Nancy stood up and nodded. "Yeah, that's me"

"Bess Marvin is asking for you. She's in Room 202."

"Thank you, doctor. How are our other friends Frank and Joe Hardy?"

"Oh, Joe Hardy just woke up. He lost a lot of blood, but he should be fine. He has a concussion, that's all. But we are going to be keeping him overnight to observe. He's in Room 210. Visiting hours close in an hour, so you might be able to go visit him."

"And Frank?"

The doctor sighed. "He's still in the operation theatre. He was shot in the shoulder, chest and stomach. He'll be staying here for a while, hoping for the best."

With that the doctor left. Nancy stood still when she remembered that Bess had asked for her. She hurried off to Room 202 with George to see Bess.

"Bess!" George cried and hugged her cousin. Nancy went over and hugged her friend too, but she still didn't exactly see her eye to eye.

"I'm sorry, Nancy" Bess whispered in a wavering voice.

Nancy looked up and saw fresh tears forming in her friend's eyes.

"I don't know what came over me. One second, that-that man was kissing me and tried to rip my shirt off and then Frank came and saved me. He untied me and hugged me and said soothing words to help me calm down. I felt so _dirty_ after being violated by that man, and then Frank comes and treats me gently. I couldn't stop myself. I just kissed him. I guess it was just the heat of the moment or something. Please Nancy, forgive me." she finished and now tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Bess, it's okay!" Nancy hugged her friend again, and mad at herself for being selfish and not realize what Bess went through. "It's okay, I understand. I don't blame you. You needed somebody at that moment and Frank came. He has that effect on everyone" she added the last part jokingly.

"Thank you" she smiled. "How is he? And Joe?"

Nancy and George told her what the doctor said to them.

"Okay, let's go see Joe" Bess said and started to get off her bed.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on," George said "What do you think you are doing?"

"Going to see Joe, of course."

"Bess, you're in no condi-"George trailed off as Bess raised her hand for silence.

"I'm in perfect condition. I can walk to a room a few doors away on my own feet to see a friend who suffered much more pain physically than I did, thank you very much."

Nancy and George stood stunned as Bess made her way towards the door and then quickly followed her.

"Hey" Joe said with a smile as he saw the three ladies enter.

"Joe, how are you feeling?" Bess asked.

"I'm fine. Did we get him?" Joe asked, looking at Nancy.

"Yeah we did."

"Where's Frank?"

The three girls looked at each other. They hadn't realized that he didn't know about Frank's condition.

"Well? Joe asked. He was starting to get worried when none of them spoke. "Tell me!"

"He got shot" George said hurriedly "Three times"

Joe eyes widened. "WHAT?! Where is he?!" he demanded.

Hearing the commotion, the nurse in charge rushed into the room. "What's going on here? Only two visitors allowed" she snapped. Then her eyes fell on Bess's hospital gown. "And what do you think you're doing out of your room, young lady? Go back to your room!"

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Now go to your room." Turning to Joe, she asked "Why are you shouting?"

"Why didn't anyone tell me that my brother got shot?!" he yelled.

The nurse's face softened considerably. "Oh honey, he'll be fine"

"I want to see him!" Joe demanded.

"You can't. He's in the operation theatre right now"

"I want to call my parents"

"We already informed them. They said they will get here on the next available flight. Now you take a rest. I'll inform you when the operation is over and the condition of your brother." She smiled at him.

"Alright. I hope I can get a shot on that bastard for doing this to us."

"Now, now, there's no need for such foul language" the nurse scolded Joe. She went on a tirade and when she was done, Joe was turning red with embarrassment. The girls were trying to stifle their laughter, and when the nurse left, they burst out laughing.

"Shut up" he mumbled.

The nurse came back in and Joe immediately fell silent. "You two, visiting hours are over" she told Nancy and George.

"When do I get to leave?" Joe asked. "I want to get out of this place"

"You will stay here as long as you need to, understand?" the nurse said.

Joe shrunk back under the covers and said "Yes" which sounded more like a squeak.

The girls laughed again and hugged Joe and bid goodnight.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Frank was lying still on his bed, his eyes closed. He tried a lot to open them, but the effort was too much for him. He could hear the beeps of some machines and two familiar voices talking near him, but he couldn't figure out what they were saying. He felt someone else's hand was in his hand. It was small and soft and the heat of the hand made him feel better than the machines. He tried to squeeze her hand but he didn't have enough strength.

Nancy, who was holding Frank's hand, held it stir beneath her fingers. "Frank?" she said "Are you awake?"

Joe, who was standing by the window, rushed to the bed on the other side of Frank's bed. "Is he up?" he asked Nancy.

"I don't know. But I swear I felt his hand move."

Frank tried to smile at the sweet voice of Nancy and the concerned voice of his brother, but his muscles felt too sore due to lack of use. He tried once again to open his eyes, but he managed to open them a crack.

"Hey" he said, his voice weak.

"Frank" Nancy whispered. "Hi" she squeezed his hand. Frank tried to return the pressure and this time managed it.

"Hey bro" Joe said.

"What's going on? How long have I been out?"

"You've been out for two days" Nancy answered.

"Yeah, and scared the living hell out of us, that's what's going on."

Frank smiled at his brother's quip.

"Did they get him? He asked.

"Yeah, you did all the work. You took him out even after getting shot _three_ times!" Joe replied in awe.

"Good. He deserved it."

"He sure did."

"How long am I in here for?"

"Until you get better" Nancy replied.

"I don't want to spend my time over here when I could be with you."

"I'll be with you the whole time you are here." She smiled.

"Okay, give it a rest you two." Joe said, rolling his eyes. "Now what are we going to do for your birthday Frank?"

"Huh?"

"It's your birthday next week, remember? And people think that _you_ are the smarter one."

Frank chuckled. "I just didn't realize my birthday is next week. But what I want to do is get out of here before my birthday."

"That shouldn't be a problem." said a new voice. Frank's doctor came into the room, smiling. "You are a strong specimen, Mr. Hardy. All you need is rest, and lots of it. If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to leave in a couple of days."

"Thank you, doc" Joe said. "I don't think old man Frank here would mind receiving special care for a couple more days."

The doctor and Nancy chuckled and Frank rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Two more days will be just fine" Frank said and sighed in contentment.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FRAAANK! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOO YOUUUUU!"

Everyone was surrounding Frank and singing together, as he cut the cake and blew out the candles in the living room of Nancy's house, a huge grin on his face. Nancy gave him a big hug and a quick kiss, as Frank turned to Joe and gave him a big hug of his own. Hannah had taken the liberty to make Frank's birthday cake, along with Laura Hardy, who had flown to Chicago when Frank was in the hospital. George had taken a piece of cake on her hand and crept up behind Frank and rubbed it all over his face. Everyone laughed out loud and doubled up in laughter. Frank chased down George and when he caught her, he wiped his face with hand rubbed it all over George. Soon everyone was tired and lounging in the living room. Nancy came up to Frank.

"Hey. Care to join with me in the backyard? I'd like to give you your gift in person" she asked with a smile.

"Sure," Frank smiled and got up.

The couple made their way into the backyard and Nancy leaned against Frank, her head on his shoulder. She got out a small box out of her pocket and gave it to the Frank. He opened the box and let out a low whistle. It was a gold ring, with F.H engraved on it.

"Nancy...I can't take this..."

"Yes you can, Frank. It's nothing, really."

"Nothing? This must have cost you a lot" he said weakly.

Nancy looked him in the eye. "It's nothing compared to your life," she whispered. "You almost gave your life for me and you are worth more than anything to me." She finished, with unshed tears in her eyes.

Frank leaned his head closer to her until his forehead rested on her's. "Nancy, you are worth dying for. I love you."

He kissed her tenderly and she kissed him back. When they pulled away for air, Nancy murmured against his lips.

"I love you too, Frank."

_**A/N: And that's the end! I know it's a really cheesy and fluffy ending, but I couldn't really think of something else. Anyways, I had really enjoyed writing this story for you guys. I appreciate the support from the people who reviewed. I know I didn't get much reviews, but thank you lots to those who did. I wouldn't mind hearing your final thoughts about this whole story so please review! I hope you liked my story! Thank you for reading it! :)**_


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